A GANG of “guns for hire” who spread lawless violence in a spate of gun and grenade attacks across Merseyside were today starting life behind bars.

A GANG of “guns for hire” who spread lawless violence in a spate of gun and grenade attacks across Merseyside were today starting life behind bars.

The five were the “go to” men for gangsters across the area as they carried out attacks on underworld rivals.

But their spree saw innocent people caught in the middle as indiscriminate shootings and grenade attacks escalated.

At the top of the tree sat Tony Downes and Kirk Bradley, a “thick as thieves” pair of career criminals from Huyton
, and Gary Wilson, who used his ill-gotten gains to buy himself a plush seafront Southport home.

Bradley and Downes, both 26, never got their hands dirty – Downes was directing operations from his cell in HMP Liverpool and was said to be the group’s “chief executive” by a judge yesterday.

Instead their underlings, “trusted and active lieutenants” Craig Riley and Joseph Farrell, were given “jobs” to carry out and would farm some tasks out to younger crooks wanting to make a name for themselves.

On their instructions, the young thugs would be given guns or explosives and an address or a specific individual to target.

They threw grenades into a room where a woman babysitting her seven-year-old grandson was sleeping and shot people in the legs and stomach, leaving them with life-changing injuries.

Their “modus operandi” saw them use the same guns over and over again – two guns linked to the group were used in 16 different shootings – and carry out their attacks on scrambler bikes, ideal for a quick getaway.

Police slammed the gang as “parasites, the worst kind of mercenary” after bringing them to justice.

A covert police operation was launched to snare those linked to more than 20 incidents over two years.

As the net closed on them, officers took an arsenal of weapons off the streets.

At Woolwich Crown Court yesterday the “chapter” in the ongoing fight against gun crime was brought to a close by high court judge Mr Justice Henriques when he sentenced each of the gang to life imprisonment.

Only Farrell, Wilson and Riley were actually in the dock at Woolwich yesterday.

He was caught in a holiday park in southern Holland last Friday in a car with a gun and two fake passports.

Extradition proceedings to bring him back to the UK are underway.

Bradley is still on the run and Mr Justice Henriques said he posed a “serious risk” to the public, adding: “Bradley is plainly a very dangerous man.

“Any right-thinking member of the public would feel abhorrence and outrage at this merciless campaign which Bradley oversaw and co-managed.”

Downes and Bradley were both given minimum sentences of 22 years.

Wilson, 27, of The Promenade, Southport, was jailed for at least 16 years while Riley, 25, of Boodecroft, and Farrell, 23, of Brandearth Hey, both Stockbridge Village, were given minimum terms of 14 and 12 years respectively.

They were all convicted of possessing firearms and causing criminal damage with intent to endanger life.

Referring to the tragic 2007 murder of Croxteth Park schoolboy Rhys Jones, who was caught in the crossfire of a Liverpool gang war, Mr Justice Henriques said: “Merseyside has learned the hard way when it comes to stray bullets.”

After the sentencing, the head of Matrix – the police’s crack anti-gun anti-gang unit who caught the five – said it was a good result but the fight against gun crime was far from over.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Doherty, of Merseyside police, said: “This was not a noble omertà [code of honour]. This was simple criminality and protecting their ‘business’.

“The use of grenades shows how dangerous and just how unconcerned they were about anyone in their community.

“As bad as guns are, for me there are two things which make it far worse. Grenades are one step up and petrol bombs are another. There are both attempted murder every time.

“They were contractors. They were involved in their own scraps but Bradley, Downes and Wilson would also subcontract work out to the likes of Riley and Farrell who were trusted and active lieutenants. If someone wanted a job doing, they were the people to call.

“It is an end to a chapter but this is a long book. We are in a serious struggle with serious criminals in Merseyside.

“They are the puppet-masters pulling the strings on vulnerable young males, sending them out on bikes with guns and mobile phones and a task to do which results in serious injury, damage or, on occasion, death. They are parasites, the worst kind of mercenary.

“We have taken one hierarchy out but this is a constant struggle and we have other people right across the county involved in similar criminality and we are never going to become complacent about it.

“We have not been cured of this problem by this one result. This is a chronic problem which we intend to find the correct medicine for.”

Merseyside became UK’s capital of grenade attacks

THE gang were said to be responsible for turning Merseyside into the grenade attack capital of the UK.

Over three years, the UK Police National Bomb Data Centre dealt with 14 confirmed incidents involving grenades.

Seven of those took place within 10 months on Merseyside at the height of the attacks orchestrated by the gang.

The attacks were:

17/05/09: An address in Rossett Avenue, Wavertree, is attacked. From what little they find at the scene, experts believe an M75, made in the former Yugoslavia, was used.

11/07/09: An M75 is used to attack a house in Edge Hill.

26/07/09: An intact British Army-issue L109 is found in Selworthy Road, Birkdale.

8/08/09: An explosion at Salerno Drive, Huyton, is thought to have been caused by an M75.

23/08/09: After being called to an incident in Reeds Road, Huyton, police find an L109 was thrown through the window of a family home but not exploded.

13/11/09: Selworthy Road, Birkdale, is the scene of another grenade incident with an M75 being thrown at a house and exploding in mid-air.

14/03/10: Police find the fly-off lever from an M75 in an address in Hollowcroft, Stockbridge Village, after it was bombed.

Timeline: Attacks linked to Mersey guns and grenades gang

March 2, 2009: Home in Thingwall Lane, Huyton fired at while seven-month-old baby was inside. Bullet head later found matching seized Colt 45. Seized Browning firearm used to fire at home in Selworthy Road, Birkdale, same day.

March 24, 2009: Stephen McGeorge shot in legs while in a public phone box on Custley Hey, Stockbridge Village, with the Colt 45. Mr McGeorge later had his right leg amputated at Fazakerley hospital.

May 8, 2009: Single shot fired at home in Cambridge Avenue, Litherland, with Browning pistol.

June 6, 2009: Same Browning weapon again used to blast at home of Southport security boss John Ball in Selworthy Road, Birkdale.

July 4, 2009: Witnesses describe seeing “gunfight” between a car and two motorbikes at the junction of Princess Drive and Saxby Road, Huyton.

July 26, 2009: Security guard sees two men approaching the Ball home in Selworthy Road with something wrapped in bin liner. The men flee but police arrest them nearby and find a hand grenade on the wall outside the home of Liverpool FC manager Kenny Dalglish.

November 13, 2009: Grenade attack at the Ball home in Selworthy Road causing extensive damage with a M75 explosive from former Yugoslav republic.

December 2, 2009: Home of Andrew Dunn in Hebden Road, Croxteth, blasted at with Browning self-loading pistol.

December 3, 2009: Browning pistol seized after police swoop on taxi in Sheil Road, Kensington, with four men inside.

February 16, 2010: Alan Thompson shot twice in the legs with Colt 45 at the Deysbrook pub, West Derby, after a funeral.

March 3, 2010: Two men fire at house in Griffin Close, Croxteth, using Colt 45.

May 5, 2010: Tony Downes is slashed across the face at Full Sutton prison. The attack, captured on CCTV, is carried out by fellow inmate Philip Woolley, who is assisted by Paul Holland. At 11.30pm a woman is attacked at her home in Helena Street which neighbours said used to be occupied by the Woolley family. At 11.45pm, Paul Holland’s dad is attacked by “a mob” who smash into his home in Portlemouth Road, Garston.

November 11, 2010: Michael Stanton shot in the leg with Colt 45 during arranged “straightener”.

January 20, 2011: Colt 45 self-loading pistol found at home in Colonel Drive, West Derby. Expert said DNA swab from weapon matched Joseph Farrell to one in a billion.

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